Shorten rallies Labor troops for an election-winning effort

Bill Shorten has truly launched his campaign agenda that he hopes will deliver the keys to the Lodge.

Bill Shorten, with wife Chloe, on stage at the Box Hill rally yesterday. Picture: Kym Smith

The election may have been called more than a fortnight ago but it wasn’t until yesterday that Bill Shorten truly launched the campaign agenda he hopes will deliver the keys to The Lodge.

After a shaky opening to the campaign, the Opposition Leader unveiled more than $6 billion of spending measures at a rally of about 500 starry-eyed Labor volunteers in Melbourne’s Box Hill.

His policies were focused around two key Labor strengths: Medicare and women.

Mr Shorten declared giving pensioners free dental was part of “building” Medicare, while he pitched extra money for childcare wages as delivering equality for women.

“This is an investment in pay equity for a female-dominated industry. A fair reward for a workforce that is 96 per cent women who have been undervalued and underpaid for too long,” Mr Shorten said.

The policies were on top of a $660 million domestic violence package announced by Labor last week, and a $2bn-plus cancer treatment policy in Mr Shorten’s budget reply speech.

It was more than enough to receive roars from the Labor faithful who believe the nation is on the verge of chucking out a Coalition government after just two terms in power.

Mr Shorten was even brazen enough to make a virtue of his controversial “Mediscare” campaign, which helped him win 14 seats in the 2016 poll but was described by former prime minister Malcolm Turnbull as an “obscene lie”.

“At the last election, so many of us stood together to save Medicare. At this election we’re putting forward a plan to build Medicare,” Mr Shorten said.

“We can all take great pride in the fact Labor created Medicare. But every new generation has a responsibility to build Medicare, to expand it, to bring better healthcare to more Australians.”

Among the crowd was a significant contingent of frontbenchers, including Penny Wong, Brendan O’Connor, Amanda Rishworth, Clare O’Neil and Catherine King.

Mr Shorten said a future Labor government would offer a “new way forward for Australia” rather than just an end to the turbulent Coalition years.

“In 1972 and 1983 and 2007, when people voted for new Labor governments they were voting for a genuine change of direction for Australia. And this is what our Labor team offers at this election,” Mr Shorten said.

Senator Wong opened the event in the winnable electorate of Chisholm and used it to rev up volunteers ahead of pre-polling starting today. She urged an extra effort over the next 20 days to ensure Mr Shorten did not fall at the final hurdle.